TB Platinum Upgrade Vouchers - useless?
 

Has anyone had any luck getting an upgrade into Business with the TB Platinum Upgrade Vouchers? I was sent two of them the first time I went Platinum and another two when I re-certified. So now I have four and would like to get upgrades for the Frau and I for a TXL-LAX trip in the Spring. I tried doing this for a recent trip to JFK but got the runaround multiple times.

"Call back eight weeks before the flight."
"Call back two weeks before the flight."
"Call back one week before the flight."
"Call back six hours before the flight.

I suspect that these vouchers are not worth the paper they're printed on. Anyone had success with them or can offer any tips?

thanks in advance,
William

Did you call up the Top bonus call centre and this is what they told you? If yes, very surprising...

I used already 4 vouchers on the LAX-DUS and on the AUH flights.
LAX is definitely hard to get an upgrade and I was refused in the same manner as you (you can only use the voucher as long as award space is available, in some circumstances they open up additional award space for platinums). However directly at the airport (LAX) I catched the last available seat with the voucher.
In my experience, JFK and AUH are easier. Also on the new destinations SFO, BOS, DFW there might be better award space.

I had this same issue. I actually booked a flight in July for a trip in Feb and I was able to obtain an upgrade for my hubs and I on the outbound from JFK. I just booked another flight in January and I wish I had another set of certificates for my trip. If u call a few weeks before they will open up space for plats.

@benberg2013 yes, indeed - called the Platinum line.

Thanks for the info gkl & Blondiemcl - guess I'll give it another shot for the next long haul.

At the moment I am still Platinum til June - but will hit the 100K mark again after today's flight. I wonder if I will get another two Vouchers?

Wm

Hi all,

just to follow up on this. I was finally able to use my vouchers for upgrades for the wife and i LAX-DUS and back. I had to call in about four weeks before the flight and they put us on a list. I was quite surprised when i later received emails confirming our upgrades. The AirBerlin business class is relative spare but it still is an improvement on such a long flight.

Of course AirBerlin took its revenge by losing one of our bags on the return. How they can lose bags on a direct flight is beyond me but they seem to be pretty good at it. Arrived at DUS on the 1st of January and waited for the bag in vain. They still haven't found it.... Happy New Year from AirBerlin!

AB has something they call business class on European flights. Maybe it's more easy to use the vouchers for that.

Oh yes, the new AB European business class. The first two rows. Can't imagine paying for that. Got upgraded once and all you get is a smoothie in a little bottle. I have a couple of vouchers which AB sent me to try it out. You have to ask for the upgrade at check in and present the voucher. Haven't tried it yet. Can't imagine this idea will last long as I rarely see anybody sitting up there except for the cabin attendants...

Never had any problems in using them.
Just check if award space is available and you will get the upgrade immediately.

What is the longest route that AB flies? TXL-LAX? I'm sure that's the hardest to use these vouchers on, but just curious. Also, is using miles to upgrade a similar situation, ie., hard to find space?

I recently upgraded DUS-LAX and had no issues on my preferred dates, but I admit that US west-coast awards (LAX or SFO) are difficult to get. TXL-HKG is rumoured to be started soon, so it might be interesting and most likely there will be sufficient award space at the beginning.

Is that the flight they plan to do to celebrate the opening of BER?

Can you say where these rumours come from?

http://aviationweek.com/awindefense/...g-kong-flights

mentioned here:

http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.c...lin-hong-kong/

Ever thought about that the agent checking your luggage is not personally carrying the bag to the aircraft? Some airports are notorious for losing bags and if they are not found within a day or two or three they are most likely gone for ever.

I have a flight coming up in September, and at the moment there is no upgrade availability, but I'm also meeting a friend and we're flying TXL-AUH together on the same flight. I was hoping to try and use 2 of my upgrade vouchers to upgrade both of us, but he booked his flight via Etihad, so it's sold as an EY flight. If space is available, do you think they'll allow an upgrade? I emailed the platinum desk, but the answer was vague and ambiguous, and only clear information was, "No upgrade available at the moment".